Silos must be broken down to bring diversity to the hospitality workplace

If 2020 was a year for talking about diversity and inclusion in the travel industry, then hopefully 2021 will be a year for action.

We know that women are under-represented in leadership roles across the industry and the same is true for members of the Black community.

A study by the Castell Project , which works to accelerate the careers of women in hospitality, revealed although Black people make up about 20% of hospitality industry’s workforce, very few are in leadership positions.

The Castell Project recently appointed Tracy Prigmore to its board of directors.

Prigmore is known for her work to boost gender and minority representation in hospitality through her real estate and development firm TLTSolutions as well as the She Has a Deal program to create more female hoteliers.

She talks to PhocusWire about her initial thoughts on the travel industry, enabling people to be their authentic selves in work and breaking down silos.

Tell us about the She Has a Deal program and breaking into hospitality after a career in healthcare.

I conceived the idea for She Has a Deal because the number of women in hotel ownership positions was very low in comparison to men.

I came to hospitality after a career in healthcare where we had that same problem in leadership ranks. I saw transformation based on acknowledgement and documentation and based on acknowledging where we are. If we take steps and put actions together, we can actually see results.

I did not know, when I joined the hospitality industry and started going to conferences, that it was even worse. It was predominantly suits. There was a trickle of women but those I met worked for the brand or were designers within the architectural firms.

As someone from outside travel industry, what were your initial thoughts in terms of representation of women as well as Blacks or other communities?

My gut reaction was how am I ever going to break in or meet people because there’s no one who really looks like me here. The people all seemed to know each other so I was a little fearful personally.

I also thought how does the industry get the creativity and innovation if everybody is the same. That was my impression. I have experienced the value created when there is diversity of thought and diversity of leadership. We get more magic and a more inclusive environment.

Your experience in healthcare has shown you the value and importance of workplace diversity. What’s your reaction when people say they can’t find diverse talent?

I can be emphathetic to that comment. I grew up in a majority white neighbourhood and went to majority white schools.

I know and have seen that you tend to gravitate to your circle of where you live, who you go to school with. I noticed as I elevated and had to look for talent in my jobs, the first thing you think is who do I know?

If we continue to have these separate communities, there’s very little integration whether intentional or not. If there’s no diversity in your work circle then you won’t know anybody directly and you won’t know anybody to ask.

I believe that they are out there it’s just that you have to work harder and we tend to be a little lazy. That’s not to mean any shame on anybody, but we all seem to trust people we know, that we have had experience with, you know their judgement and so you trust their referrals. That makes it easy for you not to have to do the hard work, to really dig in and understand a person, who they are, what their skills and capabilities are.

If you don't see those people, or you’re not around them, then it’s easy to say they don’t exist because in your world, they don’t.

The answer is that you have to do more work to identify people, do more work to ensure your team are more diverse.

We know the capability is there across the board, it’s about who is given the access, who has the information, who has had the exposure to get the education or the experience they need?

Sometimes you have to look beyond what this person has done before, you have to look at the other factors of a person’s character and the experience and talent they have and know they can figure it out if you just give them the chance.

It isn’t just about making sure you’re actively looking for diverse talent and building a pipeline of candidates, how important is it for organizations to be set up to welcome that diverse talent?

It is important because you may get them but they don’t stay or you don’t allow them to be their authentic selves.

If you’re the only one, you feel this pressure to conform and sometimes it’s partially you and what you’re seeing but it’s also the culture and environment you’re coming into and their acceptance of diversity of thought and mind, of different ideas.

If you’re making suggestions around creative ideas to bring in other communities to your product or service, and everyone says it won’t work rather than listening, then you feel that your ideas don’t matter or you aren’t able to contribute so you look to go somewhere where you’re valued.

Everybody has some challenges in the workplace and there are always things we don’t know but someone has to give you the grace to make mistakes and give you the support you need to grow.

If you’re not able to be your authentic self and always have a different facade or you’re told, as a person of color, you have to conform or have to dress or act a certain way, you’re basically going to work as an actor. It’s draining, your energy is going towards fitting in versus who you are and being able to meaningfully contribute to the group.

I love diversity and synergy where everyone has an open mind and we’re all vibing off each other. To me that’s the best environment to grow and get the best product or outcome, when everyone has free rein to give what they think.

Do you think things are changing in travel and hospitality? Is leadership embracing the idea and do it want real change?

There’s a lot of variability in hospitality when I think about the brands versus vendors versus ownership groups and management companies. I see Marriott, definitely with respect to women and Blacks in their executive leadership ranks, has made some significant progress. That’s what I can see as an owner.

Because I’ve only been in hospitality for a short time, it’s hard to say but I do think there is better consciousness now but I don’t know if it's translating into real change.

There’s a lot going on behind the scenes. If there’s really a consciousness for making change and doing the work to find the diverse talent, if we can keep talking about it and keep holding companies accountable, we’ll definitely see that change.

If organizations like Castell and She Has a Deal can make changes on the ownership side I think we’ll get more diversity naturally because you’re bringing in more diversity on the leadership side. That will mean cultural conversations and mixed cultural groups providing input on the product.

Do you think there is a role for chief diversity officers within companies?

I have been in organizations that have that person and what I’ve experienced, not in hospitality, is that they have a person but that person does not have any staff, or one or two people, their budget is not that large and they are expected to be the consciousness of the organization and create the programs and do everything within that realm. It’s really an impossibility.

They generally end up creating a resource group and having a conference that brings the people of color within the organization together or the women together. Those resource groups are great but there’s still a further segregation.

If the internal structure isn’t changing then one or two people might make it up the ladder but most people will leave.

Traditionally those D&I folk were given a few programs or tasks that did not necessarily infiltrate the full organization. They organize some training but it really is up to the CEO and the leaders to be conscious and work on those diversity issues on a daily basis. It takes work so they have to be committed to doing it.

Also, the accountability and incentives have to be there so that it is a part of everybody’s job.

NASDAQ announced that it wants to see diverse board representation within companies and for them to provide diversity data. Is that a gamechanger?

I guess it would be. I feel like it needs to also be authentic, so maybe it’s a step in the right direction.

When I was forming the She Has a Deal pitch competition, I chose to focus on women and couple of people said what I was doing for Black women was great. I told them this is for all women.

I definitely want Black people to excel but the reason it was important to do all women is that I don’t want silos anymore so just saying I want this person there isn’t enough.

How do we get more integration of people feeling comfortable with other people? I want to see more of a mixture of women working together of all races. We can all be elevated if we work together.

Do you have any advice for hospitality companies on where to start and what might be quick wins?

First, look around and see what talent you have already that you have not really been taking advantage of. There’s probably people in the lower ranks that have talent that have been overlooked or not cultivated.

If you don’t have anything, you have a lot more work to do. But, I’m sure there are many eager women or people of color that are on the frontline that are not being looked at or elevated.